a. After establishing meaning of new structures/new content with students, have them hold up their fingers to show you how much they know. 10 fingers = 100%, 5 fingers = 50%. Your goal is to have everyone at 80% or above. Your barometer kids are the lowest. Teach and re-teach to those students until they get it.
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Parallel Story
Parallel characters are perfect when we see the processing break down. Add a parallel character that has similar but different facts using the verb you are practicing. If lots of practice is needed then it would be good to add several parallel characters. These characters help build confidence and comprehension while personalizing. To do it, add a character that is encountering similar problems, using similar vocabulary, but using a different character, a famous person, or a student from your class.
Story Jigsaw a. Based on a class story, the teacher writes a subject clause with adjective, for example, An intelligent elephant, for each student of 1/2 of the class and a predicate clause for each student in the other ½ of the class, for example, dances the tango. (Example: if you have 26 students, you will write 13 different subject clauses and 13 different predicate clauses.) Students walk around holding their clause for other students to read while looking for their own lost predicate/subject clause to make complete sentences according to the class story. b. In my class we like to get things started by yelling out “¡Estoy incompleto/a!” and when they make a match they scream out “Where have you been my whole life?!?” "Te he estado esperando toda mi vida" and hug when they find each other.
Classroom Arrangement*
a. Divide into (3) countries, regions, cities, etc… - History, World languages, English, Math (Pi Eaters, Square Roots, etc) b. great opportunity to group kids, particularly LD students, by their strength area
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animoto.com
a. create short videos using text, pictures, and/or video to create interest in new material b. have students create their own videos for assessment purposes c. make sure you sign up for an educators membership, free 1st year, afterwards minimal fee.
Prezi.com
a. Create zooming presentations, great for making graphic organizers that are more high-tech! b. have students use it to create assessments
a. President, vice-president, ‘bolt’, drum roll king, permanent one-word responders, license to express yourself (give students a ‘license’ to say a specific expression, when appropriate, during class) b. For LD students, make sure they know in advance what their job is.
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SPANISH_N_ART_018.jpg
Use Gestures and Puppets!!*
a. Great to use with vocabulary words- write it down, translate it or define it and try to create a corresponding gesture. Continue using gestures as needed! When I can’t think of a gesture I ask the kids or investigate the sign language gesture online. b. Assign specific gestures for students to communicate with you, for example, slow down (lower both hands to the table) or I don’t understand/know that word (make a fist and punch it into your other hand). c. Hand puppets or small stuffed animals are great for gesturing, reinacting events, acting out processes (chemical bonding, electrons around a nucleus), etc... Particularly useful for the students who don’t want to get up and a. Pick up some small stuffed animals at garage sales or ask kids to bring in old ones they don’t want anymore.
It’s a secret!*
a. Add melodrama to your subject matter by telling students you have a secret. They respond by stomping their right foot and putting their hands to their left ear, as if trying to hear the secret. Another great cross-brained activity! (Props to Ben Slavic)
100_0189.JPG
Props & Noisemakers*
a. Picking up a few props at garage sales or asking students for old toys can breathe life into your content. Some ideas to get you started: a flower, a hamburger, a tiara. Improvising with classroom objects in place of props can be hysterical, too (a class favorite is the stapler as a telephone)! b. Pick up some inexpensive noisemakers at party supply stores. (Clappers, whistles, etc…) Helpful in adding some excitement while students make connections as well as get their attention-practice appropriate times to use them.
100_0095.JPG
School_Pictures_033.jpg
Drum roll, please*
a. Anytime you are getting ready to say some really important detail, ask the kids for a drum roll…but don’t forget the cross-armed symbol crash! (Cross-brain activity keeps the kids fresh and ready to learn!
a. Publish, store and download children’s stories FREE! animoto create your own video montage from pictures and videos. Free educator accounts available.
a. “A digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her own 3D pop-up books.”
Reader's Theatre - we all know what it is, but it's HOW you do it. You have to coach melodrama, imitate telenovelas, and use props!
a. Make a novel/text/lecture come to life by adding actors and props! Students follow along novel/text with their finger and pause to enjoy the student actors.
b. One variation is to have students take a either a live ‘snapshot’ or a photograph of a moment in the novel/lecture to reference and use as a talking point later on.
c. I like to tell my students they are on a soap opera and have to over act everything. At times I’ll whisper direction in their ear, for example, ‘get down on one knee!’. For students not ready to talk on speaking roles, we lip-sync! I stand behind them and tap their shoulder, at which point they begin mouthing words while I say them from behind.
I have a secret! Is it a big secret or a little secret? Have your students get some cross-body activity while you engage them with any additional information that you whisper after saying, 'Class, I have a secret!' and they respond by stomping their right foot on the ground and bringing their right hand to their left ear as if trying to hear more clearly.
Graffiti
Get kids up and moving around with a 'Graffiti' activity. Create 4-5 'walls' with paper and a topic related to your content. then have kids move from wall to wall (a.k.a. station to station) and tagging the paper with related ideas using markers and buble letters.
Glogster Canvas freedom allows expression to take over: mix text, audio, video, images, graphics and more from your files, our pre-designed graphics, or around the web using the inbuilt Web picker browser, yielding high-impact content with simple elegance.
10-finger Comprehension Check*
a. After establishing meaning of new structures/new content with students, have them hold up their fingers to show you how much they know. 10 fingers = 100%, 5 fingers = 50%. Your goal is to have everyone at 80% or above. Your barometer kids are the lowest. Teach and re-teach to those students until they get it.
Parallel Story
Parallel characters are perfect when we see the processing break down. Add a parallel character that has similar but different facts using the verb you are practicing. If lots of practice is needed then it would be good to add several parallel characters. These characters help build confidence and comprehension while personalizing. To do it, add a character that is encountering similar problems, using similar vocabulary, but using a different character, a famous person, or a student from your class.
Story Jigsaw
a. Based on a class story, the teacher writes a subject clause with adjective, for example, An intelligent elephant, for each student of 1/2 of the class and a predicate clause for each student in the other ½ of the class, for example, dances the tango. (Example: if you have 26 students, you will write 13 different subject clauses and 13 different predicate clauses.) Students walk around holding their clause for other students to read while looking for their own lost predicate/subject clause to make complete sentences according to the class story.
b. In my class we like to get things started by yelling out “¡Estoy incompleto/a!” and when they make a match they scream out “Where have you been my whole life?!?” "Te he estado esperando toda mi vida" and hug when they find each other.
Classroom Arrangement*
a. Divide into (3) countries, regions, cities, etc… - History, World languages, English, Math (Pi Eaters, Square Roots, etc)
b. great opportunity to group kids, particularly LD students, by their strength area
animoto.com
a. create short videos using text, pictures, and/or video to create interest in new material
b. have students create their own videos for assessment purposes
c. make sure you sign up for an educators membership, free 1st year, afterwards minimal fee.
Prezi.com
a. Create zooming presentations, great for making graphic organizers that are more high-tech!
b. have students use it to create assessments
Beginning Spanish example:
http://prezi.com/cto7kxieq2up/el-chico-que-quiere-impresionar-a-una-chica/
For more examples in all content areas visit:
www.prezi.com
More educator websites:
http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/challenges-2/free-tools-challenge/
Jobs*
a. President, vice-president, ‘bolt’, drum roll king, permanent one-word responders, license to express yourself (give students a ‘license’ to say a specific expression, when appropriate, during class)
b. For LD students, make sure they know in advance what their job is.
Use Gestures and Puppets!!*
a. Great to use with vocabulary words- write it down, translate it or define it and try to create a corresponding gesture. Continue using gestures as needed! When I can’t think of a gesture I ask the kids or investigate the sign language gesture online.
b. Assign specific gestures for students to communicate with you, for example, slow down (lower both hands to the table) or I don’t understand/know that word (make a fist and punch it into your other hand).
c. Hand puppets or small stuffed animals are great for gesturing, reinacting events, acting out processes (chemical bonding, electrons around a nucleus), etc... Particularly useful for the students who don’t want to get up and a. Pick up some small stuffed animals at garage sales or ask kids to bring in old ones they don’t want anymore.
It’s a secret!*
a. Add melodrama to your subject matter by telling students you have a secret. They respond by stomping their right foot and putting their hands to their left ear, as if trying to hear the secret. Another great cross-brained activity! (Props to Ben Slavic)
Props & Noisemakers*
a. Picking up a few props at garage sales or asking students for old toys can breathe life into your content. Some ideas to get you started: a flower, a hamburger, a tiara. Improvising with classroom objects in place of props can be hysterical, too (a class favorite is the stapler as a telephone)!
b. Pick up some inexpensive noisemakers at party supply stores. (Clappers, whistles, etc…) Helpful in adding some excitement while students make connections as well as get their attention-practice appropriate times to use them.
Drum roll, please*
a. Anytime you are getting ready to say some really important detail, ask the kids for a drum roll…but don’t forget the cross-armed symbol crash! (Cross-brain activity keeps the kids fresh and ready to learn!
epubbud.com
a. Publish, store and download children’s stories FREE!
animoto
create your own video montage from pictures and videos. Free educator accounts available.
prezi
ZOOBURST.COM
a. “A digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her own 3D pop-up books.”
Reader's Theatre -
we all know what it is, but it's HOW you do it. You have to coach melodrama, imitate telenovelas, and use props!
a. Make a novel/text/lecture come to life by adding actors and props! Students follow along novel/text with their finger and pause to enjoy the student actors.
b. One variation is to have students take a either a live ‘snapshot’ or a photograph of a moment in the novel/lecture to reference and use as a talking point later on.
c. I like to tell my students they are on a soap opera and have to over act everything. At times I’ll whisper direction in their ear, for example, ‘get down on one knee!’. For students not ready to talk on speaking roles, we lip-sync! I stand behind them and tap their shoulder, at which point they begin mouthing words while I say them from behind.
I have a secret!
Is it a big secret or a little secret? Have your students get some cross-body activity while you engage them with any additional information that you whisper after saying, 'Class, I have a secret!' and they respond by stomping their right foot on the ground and bringing their right hand to their left ear as if trying to hear more clearly.
Graffiti
Get kids up and moving around with a 'Graffiti' activity. Create 4-5 'walls' with paper and a topic related to your content. then have kids move from wall to wall (a.k.a. station to station) and tagging the paper with related ideas using markers and buble letters.Noisemakers
Invigorate your class with noisemakers! Clappers or kazoos make great additions to class, as well as attention grabbers.
MEMEGENERATOR.NET
a. Create funny statements and/or advice with people or animal icons.
b. There’s an APP for that! Create them on the spot in class.
Nearpod
Glogster
Canvas freedom allows expression to take over: mix text, audio, video, images, graphics and more from your files, our pre-designed graphics, or around the web using the inbuilt Web picker browser, yielding high-impact content with simple elegance.
Laser pointer Coral Reading